Pocket register

ABSTRACT

A pocket register for containing a supply of manifolding material comprising a container for said material, a writing surface mounted within the container over which a strip of the material may be extended after being withdrawn from the interior of the container, means on the writing surface for engaging sheets of transfer material to be interposed between superposed portions of several sheets of manifolding material and adapted to limit extension of the withdrawn sheets, and a substantially open, easily locked cover means for positioning the strips of withdrawn record material onto the writing surface thereby enabling writing to take place.

United States Patent [72] lnventors Rodney W. Winston North Tonawanda;Peter M. Witham, Nottingham, N.Y. [21] Appl. No. 793,342 [22] Filed Jan.23,1969 [45 Patented May 25, 1971 [73] Assignee Moore Business Forms,Inc.

Niagara Falls, N.Y.

[54] POCKET REGISTER 8 Claims, 12 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 282/3B [51] Int. Cl B41l5/l6 [50] Field of Search 282/3-6,l221 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 718,648 l/1903 Mather282/3.l

1,894,745 1/1933 Jensen 282/6 1,902,284 3/1933 Jensen 282/19.2X

1,957,034 5/1934 Stern et a1. 282/17 1,876,981 9/1932 Lewis 282/19BFOREIGN PATENTS 6,308 1907 Great Britain 282/15 PrimaryExaminer-Lawrence Charles Attorney-Watson, Cole, Grindle & Watsonwriting surface thereby enabling writing to take place.

PATENTED NAYZS 1971 SHEET 1 [IF 3 INVENTORS RODNEY N. WINSTON PETER MWITHAM BY Man, 64% 4M2 ATTORNEYS PATENTEU HAY25l97l 3580.614

sum 3 or 3 NTORSI no wmsron BY PETER M. WITHAM gjhw mMim ATTORNEYSPOCKET REGISTER This invention relates generally to a pocket registerfor manifolded records and, more particularly, to a portable register orholder for containing a supply of superposed portions of record materialfrom which the material may be progressively withdrawn.

The pocket register according to the instant invention comprises aboxlike container preferably of a one-piece molded plastic body havingdimensions approximating that of the size packet of record material tobe contained therein, and provided with a fixed top wall serving as awriting surface over which successive portions of the record strip aredisposed upon withdrawal from the container. The forms, usable with thisdevice, are interconnected into continuous strips which are superfoldedin zigzag formation within the interior of the container or box. Hingedto lie parallel to the writing surface is a substantially open covernormally locked into position to form a completely enclosed container.Upon opening the cover, a set of forms may be withdrawn from theinterior of the container and folded reversely over the writing surfacestarting with the last copy of such forms placed into position over apair of stop pins which act to limit movement of the strip or stripswhen a predetermined length has been withdrawn from the container. Anumber of carbon bars, hinged at one end to the writing surface, arefirst pulled up so that a sheet of carbon or transfer material may beattached to one of the bars thereby allowing a single carbon sheet to beinterposed between each form sheet as they are positioned over thewriting surface. As many carbon sheets as necessary may bethereforeinterposed between the superposed sheets during the positioningprocess. Thereafter, the substantially open cover or lid is closed overthe superposed sheets and locked at one end of the container. The coverexposes all the printed material on the form to the user who is now atliberty to record inscriptions thereon which are reproduced upon theunderlying forms by the interleaved sheets of transfer material. Theused fonns may be withdrawn simply by lifting them from the stop pinsand away from the register thereby bringing another set of attachedforms into position on the writing surface with the interposed transfermaterial remaining fixed on the surface. After the used forms areseparated from the continuous strips, a record copy or copies may beinserted into the container through a door provided on the bottom wallthereof which is hinged to close inwardly.

It is therefore an object of this invention to providea pocket registerhaving few moving parts, thereby rendering the device simple toconstruct, easy and efficient to operate, and more durable than mostprior art devices.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a portableregister apparatus for manifolding material having a fixed writingsurface over which strips of record material may be periodicallywithdrawn from the container without the need for moving any element ofthe apparatus.

A further object of the present design is to provide a manifoldingdevice of the type described wherein a substantially open lid or coveris placed over the withdrawn record material strips thereby exposing thestrips and maintaining them snugly against the writing surface.

A still further object of the instant design is to provide a pocketregister of the character described wherein the cover or lid is uniquelylocked into position over the strips which can be unlocked simply bylifting up on one end of the cover while at the same time depressing thetop of the device.

A still further object of the instant invention is to provide a pocketregister as described wherein sheets of transfer material are fixedlyheld interposed between the superposed strips of material and areafi'lxed in such a manner such that any number of transfer sheets may beused with bulky folds of manifolding material.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a manifoldingdevice wherein means are provided on the bottom of the apparatus forconveniently storing the detached sheets or slips.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of the inventionwhen considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

FIG. I is a perspective showing of the pocket register according to theinvention,

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the apparatus takensubstantially along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are transverse cross-sectional views takenrespectively along the lines 3-3, 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the cover or lid after ithas been opened,

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective showing the open end of the device afterthe lid has been opened and illustrating the carbon bars used ininitially loading the device, and

FIGS. 9, l0, l1 and 12 are perspective views, respectively, showing thesuccessive operation during the initial loading of the device.

Turning now to the drawings wherein like reference characters refer tolike and corresponding parts throughout the several views, there isshown a pocket register 10 according to the invention comprising asubstantially boxlike container or holder having a bottom wall 11, topwall 12, an end wall 13, and sidewalls 14 formed as a one-piece moldedplastic construction for containing a number of printed forms f (seeFIGS. 9l2) interconnected into continuous strips and superfolded inzigzag formation so they may be drawn from the interior of the box orcontainer and folded reversely over the top of a writing surface 15which is of a metallic design mounted over top wall 12 and a portion ofend wall 13 of the container. As clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 912 of thedrawings near one end of the writing surface or plate 15, means forlimiting the extent of the forms 16, l7, 18 after being withdrawn fromthe interior of the container are shown clearly as a pair of upstandingstop pins 19. Accordingly, when the last sheet 16 of a set of forms 16,17, 18 (see FIGS. 9, l0 and 11) is withdrawn from the interior of thecontainer, suitable holes 21 provided near the top end of the form 16will allow the form to be placed about stop pins 19 in the normalmanner.

Near the other end of the writing surface 15, a number of flat bars 22'are provided for retaining sheets of transfer material 23 in a manner tobe hereinafter explained. The flat bars 22 are hinged at one end bymeans of a clip 24 (see FIG. 8) and locket onto surface 15 at their freeends by means of engagement with an upstanding apertured flange 25provided on the writing surface on the side directly opposite from clip24. A depression 26 is also provided on the surface 15 for enablingdisengagement of the flat bars 22 from the flange 25. A cover or lid 27,for maintaining the withdrawn forms snugly in position on the writingsurface 15, is hinged as at 28 to opposing sidewalls 14 of the container(see FIG. 7). The cover 27. may then be closed over the withdrawn formsand locked into a substantially parallel position in relation to thewriting surface 15. The cover 27 is formed with a substantiallyrectangular cutout 29 so that, after the cover is closed, the printedmatter on the top form will be available for writing thereon by theuser, as clearly shown in FIG. 12. Also, the cover 27 is provided with adependingflange 31 which serves as an end wall for the container afterthe withdrawn forms are initially made ready for use. And, the lid 27 isprovided with a pair of locking plates 32 along opposite sides of thecover (see FIGS. 3 and 7), each of such plates having an aperture 33therein for maintaining the cover in its locked position. Locking meansis provided within a rolled-under edge 34 of writing surface 15, asclearly shown in FIG. 2, where a pair of locking balls 35 are biasedoutwardly in contact with their respective sidewalls 14 by means of acoil spring 36 all of which is contained within edge 34, as clearlyshown in FIG. 3 of the drawings. Aeeordingly, the lid 27 is locked asthe locking flange apertures 33 engage with locking balls 35 when thelid 27 is brought to its closed position of FIG. 3.

In bottom wall 11 of the pocket register, a door 37 is provided forstoring file copies within the container if so desired. To that end,door 37 is hinged as at 38 to bottom wall 11 (see FIG. 2) by means of aninwardly biased hinge so that door 37 will always remain in a closedposition, as shown, without the need for snap-locking means as iscommonly required in the prior art devices.

In order to dress up the pocket register while being carried from placeto place, an outer cover 39 of plastic or any other suitable material,is replaceably secured to the end wall 13 of the container by means ofstuds 41 engageable with suitable apertures 42 provided in writingsurface and the end wall 13. Being replaceable, the outer cover 39 maybe substituted for like covers of any color variety or design. Also, thecover 39, as clearly shown in FIG. I, is provided with a pocket 43 forpurposes of storing any notes or other memoranda which the user may wishto maintain with the register.

It should be noted that the width of writing surface 15, as clearlyshown in FIG. 4 of the drawings, is slightly narrower than the distancebetween sidewalls 14 of the container in order to accommodate cover sideflanges 44 when the cover is in its closed position over the writingsurface.

With specificreference to FIGS. 9 through 12, it can be clearly seenthat the pocket register of the instant invention may be initiallyloaded with the continuous forms by first opening the cover 27 andthereafter removing the free ends of flat bars 22 from engagement withthe apertured flange 25. Referring for a moment to FIG. 1 of thedrawings, it can be seen that the sidewall or flange 31 of the cover isslightly bent inwardly on itself so that in opening, the user merelyapplies upward pressure to the cover 27 with his thumb lifting up nearthe bottom of flange 31 while one or more fingers are used to depressthe top ofwriting surface 15. The interconnected continuous strips orformsfare then placed within the container defined by writing surface15, bottom wall 11, end wall 13, and sidewalls 14, as shown in FIG. 9,whereupon the last copy of a three-copy set of forms 16, 17, I8 isplaced top side up over the writing surface 15 with the form holes 21placed over the stop pins 19, thereby limiting the extent of thewithdrawn forms from the container. As shown in FIG. 10, a transfersheet or sheet of carbon 23 is interleaved carbon side up with one ofthe flat bars 22 through either suitable holes provided in the carbonpaper, or by actually piercing the transfer material as it is beingthreaded. As disclosed in FIG. 11, the transfer sheet 23 is folded withits carbon surface facing downwardly onto the sheet 16 after the freeend of the bar is brought into engagement with the apertured flange 25.In this way, the carbon sheet 23 is securely held in position on thewriting surface. Sheet 17 is then folded over the transfer sheet 23 andanother carbon sheet 23 is threaded onto the second flat bar 22 in thesame manner as described above with reference to the first flat bar. Thethird sheet 18 may then be placed over the second transfer sheet withholes 21 engaging with stop ends 19 in the usual manner. Cover 27 isthen closed and locked into position over the set of fonns as apertures33 are brought into engagement with locking balls 35, thereby renderingthe pocket register available for immediate use. After writing on thefirst set of forms completed, the forward location of pins 19 inrelation to the forward end of cover 27 pennits the user to simply liftup on the forms 16, I7, 18 near the stop pins 19 and pull in thedirection as shown in FIG. 12 until a second set of forms locates on thepins. The removed forms may then be snapped off at suitable perforationsand a copy or copies thereof may be stored in the container through thedoor 37. After the forms and transfer sheet are initially loaded intothe pocket register, additional transfer sheets or carbon materialassociated with each form is not necessary because the initial carbonpapers 23 remain interposed between each sheet of forms as they arebeing discarded from the register.

It should be also recognized that clip 24 is preferably slightlyelongated so as to facilitate attachment of more than two carbon barsshould it become desirable to use more than three form sheets. Inaddition, the slightly elongated clip 24 prevents bulging of the formsas the carbon sheets are interposed thereinbetween.

In view of the foregoing description, it can be seen that a portableautographic register device for a supply of continuous printed forms hasbeen designed which is of compact form, of convenient size, light inweight, and capable of being easily carried from place to place by theuser. Although the present device is characterized as being portable, itis obvious that it may be also used while being permanently affixed to atable top or desk without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Also, it can be seen that the present device offers many advantages overthe prior art devices because, after the forms are initially placed overthe writing surface an apertured cover acts to hold the forms in placeduring the writing operation thereby improving writing conditions overmost of the prior art devices. In addition, the locking means for such acover is uniquely contained within a rolled-over edge of the writingsurface which locking means, in the form of locking spheres, engage witha portion of the cover itself without the need for additional snaps orfasteners commonly used heretofore. Furthermore, provision of aninwardly biased door in the bottom wall of the container also eliminatesthe need for the usual snap-type doors or fasteners for gaining entryinto the container.

It is understood that various changes and modifications may be made inthe illustrated embodiment of the invention without departing from thescope of the invention as defined by the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A pocket register for containing a supply of superposed portions ofrecord material from which the material may be progressively withdrawn,comprising:

a boxlike container'for said material having a bottom wall, sidewallsand one end wall thereby presenting an open end at the other end of saidcontainer;

a writing surface over which a strip of the withdrawn record materialmay be extended from the interior of said containcr, said writingsurface forming the top wall of said container;

means on said writing surface near said containers other end forengaging of transfer material to be interposed between superposedportions of said record material and adapted to prevent movement of thesheets, said engaging means comprising a plurality of flat bars hingedat one end and extending transversely across said writing surface;

a cover having an open surface and hinged at one end near saidcontainers one end wall, said cover having a downwardly extending flangeat its other end thereby serving to completely close said containersopen end as said cover is closed over said writing surface;

over said writing surface;

said writing surface having a rolled-under edge near said containersopen end;

said locking means comprising a locking ball within said rolled-underedge at opposite ends thereof and a coil spring urging said ballsoutwardly against said containers sidewalls through said opposite ends;

said container being provided with a flange extending downwardly fromopposite sides thereof at said rolledunder edge location, each of saidside flanges having an aperture therein whereby said cover may be lockedin place as each of said locking balls projects through said side flangeapertures after said cover is closed; and

said downwardly extending flange at said covers other end being socontoured as to present a means for lifting said cover upwardly so as todisengage said locking balls from said side flange apertures.

2. The pocket register according to claim 1 wherein said writing surfaceis located slightly below the top of said container's sidewalls andwherein the width of said writing surface means for locking said coverin place upon being closed is slightly less than the distance betweensaid sidewalls thereby forming a gap along opposite sides thereofwhereby the top of said cover may be made flush with said containerssidewall tops upon closing and said cover side flanges may lie whollywithin said respective gaps.

3. The pocket register according to claim 2 wherein writing surface hasupwardly extending strip-limiting means thereon forwardly of said coveropen surface.

4. The pocket register according to claim 3 wherein said flat bars arehinged near said rolled-under edge, said cover having an upstandingapertured bar flange for receiving the free ends of said bars after saidtransfer sheets are interposed between the superposed portions of saidstrips of record material.

5. The pocket register according to claim 4 wherein said containerbottom wall contains a file door for permitting insertion of file copiesof said material directly into said container.

6. The pocket register according to claim 5 wherein said file door ishinged at one end to said bottom wall. said hinge being designed to biassaid door inwardly.

7. The pocket register according to claim 6 wherein an outside cover isprovided and attached at one end to said containers one end wall andmade to extend over said cover.

8. The pocket register according to claim 7 wherein said outside coveris attached by means of expandable studs engageable with apertures insaid containers one end wall whereby said cover means may be removedfrom the register.

1. A pocket register for containing a supply of superposed portions ofrecord material from which the material may be progressively withdrawn,comprising: a boxlike container for said material having a bottom wall,sidewalls and one end wall thereby presenting an open end at the otherend of said container; a wrIting surface over which a strip of thewithdrawn record material may be extended from the interior of saidcontainer, said writing surface forming the top wall of said container;means on said writing surface near said container''s other end forengaging of transfer material to be interposed between superposedportions of said record material and adapted to prevent movement of thesheets, said engaging means comprising a plurality of flat bars hingedat one end and extending transversely across said writing surface; acover having an open surface and hinged at one end near saidcontainer''s one end wall, said cover having a downwardly extendingflange at its other end thereby serving to completely close saidcontainer''s open end as said cover is closed over said writing surface;means for locking said cover in place upon being closed over saidwriting surface; said writing surface having a rolled-under edge nearsaid container''s open end; said locking means comprising a locking ballwithin said rolledunder edge at opposite ends thereof and a coil springurging said balls outwardly against said container''s sidewalls throughsaid opposite ends; said container being provided with a flangeextending downwardly from opposite sides thereof at said rolled-underedge location, each of said side flanges having an aperture thereinwhereby said cover may be locked in place as each of said locking ballsprojects through said side flange apertures after said cover is closed;and said downwardly extending flange at said cover''s other end being socontoured as to present a means for lifting said cover upwardly so as todisengage said locking balls from said side flange apertures.
 2. Thepocket register according to claim 1 wherein said writing surface islocated slightly below the top of said container''s sidewalls andwherein the width of said writing surface is slightly less than thedistance between said sidewalls thereby forming a gap along oppositesides thereof whereby the top of said cover may be made flush with saidcontainer''s sidewall tops upon closing and said cover side flanges maylie wholly within said respective gaps.
 3. The pocket register accordingto claim 2 wherein writing surface has upwardly extending strip-limitingmeans thereon forwardly of said cover open surface.
 4. The pocketregister according to claim 3 wherein said flat bars are hinged nearsaid rolled-under edge, said cover having an upstanding apertured barflange for receiving the free ends of said bars after said transfersheets are interposed between the superposed portions of said strips ofrecord material.
 5. The pocket register according to claim 4 whereinsaid container bottom wall contains a file door for permitting insertionof file copies of said material directly into said container.
 6. Thepocket register according to claim 5 wherein said file door is hinged atone end to said bottom wall, said hinge being designed to bias said doorinwardly.
 7. The pocket register according to claim 6 wherein an outsidecover is provided and attached at one end to said container''s one endwall and made to extend over said cover.
 8. The pocket registeraccording to claim 7 wherein said outside cover is attached by means ofexpandable studs engageable with apertures in said container''s one endwall whereby said cover means may be removed from the register.